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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27483862">What Makes a Hero</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Detroitbecomevenom/pseuds/Detroitbecomevenom'>Detroitbecomevenom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Parental Abuse, it gets a bit violent at points, reader is quentin's daughter, tw abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:34:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,094</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27483862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Detroitbecomevenom/pseuds/Detroitbecomevenom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Y/n Beck has been through it all with her adoptive father and she gets to the point of no return on his mission to take over the world...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ned Leeds &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Reader, Quentin Beck &amp; Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. You Are Not a Hero</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How much longer is this superhero project gonna take?” Y/n carefully observed as Quentin stood in his near finished costume, several tailors fixing it around him. She still had schoolwork piled on her, due to the obvious fact that she was in the last month of her junior year, but there were too many distractions around her for her attention to be kept.</p><p>“If I have everything planned out perfectly, which I do, then we’ll be spending the summer with the world in my hands,” he smiled, looking genuine for the first time. The thought of everyone praising and worshipping him was the only thing he wanted in life.</p><p>“You never told me what I have to do for the plan, considering I’m literally the only one with actual powers here,” multiple people walked in between them during their conversation, but that was all normal. Y/n waited in anticipation for his answer, not being brave enough to ask it upfront to him before. Her anxiety that came with actually talking with Quentin resurfaced, but she learned to keep those feelings hidden if she wanted to ever be seen as a hero. That’s just what Quentin drilled into her head ever since started having those symptoms. </p><p>“You?” he raised a brow in her direction, “Mysterio doesn’t need a sidekick, especially one that’s afraid of social interaction.” Sometimes, Y/n wondered why she bothered with trying to impress him. He had no problem exploiting her powers to move heavy things around and occasionally using her as a character model for an illusion, but when it actually came to her using her powers for something useful he would shut it down.</p><p>He was finally out of the suit and walking around in the motion capture suit. A quiet voice in her head screamed at her to stand up for herself, but a much louder one was telling her to let it go this time. She wondered how the nice man that saved her life all those years ago was the same person that made her feel worthless on the daily due to his own obsession for power. </p><p>She was just a little kid running away from being experimented on by Hydra and Quentin happened to be someone she bumped into. He took her in and hid her from Hydra, finally making her feel like she was a real child for once. After a year, he decided to formally adopt her and she became Y/n Beck instead of a simple name.</p><p>But that was all before Tony Stark fired him. The man she once called Dad was gone, only Mysterio. His back was turned from her and Y/n took a deep breath, her mind set. </p><p>The chair pushed out from the table with an uncomfortably loud screech, alerting everyone in the area. “No, Quentin,” she called out, stopping his stride. Her heart started beating exponentially faster and the rush of adrenaline felt good. She stood up straighter, with confidence. “I’m sick of you constantly berating me and telling me I’m not good enough for your stupid little theater act. I demand to be respected!” It hadn’t occurred to her that she was now standing right behind Quentin. </p><p>Out of pure, unadulterated rage, she turned him around to face her with a flick of her wrist. She knew that using her power on him would piss him off even more and she loved it right until the second they were face to face and his hand went straight to her throat. Any confidence keeping her going was probably being restricted with her air. Y/n felt shoes lift from the floor and managed to squeak. </p><p>It was at this point that she was held up to the same height as he was. “You are not the one ordering me around, kid. You should be grateful that I’ve kept you alive at this point.” Y/n struggled against his iron grip and continued to try and get some type of air through. Quentin smirked and shook his head at her, “You call for respect when you can’t even save yourself with your almighty powers. Face it: You’re nothing and won’t be anything more if you keep up with the annoying little shit act you’ve got there.”</p><p>Something in Y/n believed every word he said. She had the power to give him a taste of his own medicine and hurt him back, but she couldn’t. Hot tears formed in her eyes before Quentin let go of her, her own legs failing to work. Laying there on the concrete floor while he and everyone stared at her in her own tears was the most humiliating experience she’d ever been put through. </p><p>She wanted to spit an insult back at him, but her vocal cords didn’t want to work. Perhaps that was the universe saving her ass again. Quentin returned back to filming the simulation and the rest of the team followed, not wanting to escalate the situation by mentioning it further. He would never see her as a hero.</p><p>Running cold water against the red marks that covered her neck, Y/n winced. He was never this violent, but now he was entirely too unpredictable for her. She needed to stop this.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Belief</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y/n remembers the past, which always hurts to think about</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I work for a guy named Tony Stark and we make awesome stuff in the lab every day,” Quentin handed the girl a picture of Tony. Her hands carefully took it and she analyzed it. </p><p>“Tony…Stark,” she tested the words out in her mouth. Talking wasn’t something she was allowed to do for her entire life and it felt all too unusual to be doing it. She was safe with Quentin, he wouldn’t hurt her as the bad guys did. A small smile appeared on her face as she looked up at him, “Tony Stark.”</p><p>Just a few days ago, Quentin Beck was living the bachelor life and now he sat at his kitchen table with a seven-year-old kid that barely spoke English and could move things with her mind. He never imagined that he would be living in the plot of some sci-fi movie, but here he was.</p><p>“Quentin?” The soft voice called out to him and his attention snapped back. He hummed in response, sliding the picture back to his side of the circular table. “Are going to hurt me? Like the bad guys?” He couldn’t say that he saw genuine fear in a small child’s eyes until now.</p><p>“No, I promise I’ll never do anything to hurt you.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>    It’s been a month since the incident with Quentin and Y/n remained quiet about the entire thing. Every time he got angry or frustrated, she remembered the feeling of hopelessness as he nearly killed her. She didn’t want to suffer through that again, she wasn’t sure if she could handle it.</p><p>    She was currently sitting in the first of many Mysterio base camps somewhere in Mexico. Everyone was scrambling around to get everything right as the show went on. A screw hovered in the air in front of her and did flips to provide some type of entertainment. She was strictly ordered not to touch any of the tech or interfere with anybody, so that was her best option.</p><p>    A monitor showed who Y/n presumed to be Nick Fury and Maria Hill talking to Quentin in his full suit, fully believing his phony story. She sighed at the thought that everything was going to end in his favor after all that he did. All that he was going to do. It was complete bullshit. The staff was giving out high fives and congratulations all around for a job well done.</p><p>~~~</p><p>    The greatest day in every eight-year-old’s life always will be “Bring Your Child to Work Day” and Y/n was especially stoked to see the amazing things Quentin had told her about. He was surprised when Tony announced to everyone in the building that he wanted his employees to participate in the holiday and contemplated whether or not to tell Y/n about it.</p><p>    Other kids worried Quentin, he never knew how they’d react to Y/n and vise Versa. She didn’t seem to mind the lack of friends as long as she had him as her best friend, but it was time for him to face his fears. The two held hands as they walked through the doors of Stark Tower, the little one staring at everything in awe.</p><p>    Quentin got to work as usual while Y/n played with a boy that was similar to her age. There was a good amount of children running around and playing whatever weird games their little minds could come up with. She seemed to get along with everyone else like she was just as normal as they were.</p><p>    Tony Stark was never one to visit all of his departments on the daily, but today was an exception for him. Everybody knew that he was in their room when all of the children started freaking out that Iron Man was here. “All of you look like you could be Avengers one day or maybe even work here like your parents,” Quentin thought that Tony wouldn’t be the guy to be good with children, but he was always getting surprised. He placed a wooden block in front of him on the ground. “My friend Rhodey told me something about superpowers. When you believe in yourself, you might be able to move things with your mind!”</p><p>    Quentin was too distracted to pay attention to what was going on with the kids. If he was, major red flags would’ve been clouding his vision with Tony’s “test” of superpowers. Tony had put a small device under the block that made it fly with the push of a button behind his back. “Ready?”</p><p>    Y/n knew this was the one time she could impress Tony with her powers. Maybe she believed in herself the most and that’s why she could do what she could do. Anything to look cool in front of Iron Man. She held out her hand and made the block float before any of the other kids had the chance.</p><p>    Tony’s eyes almost popped out of his head. No kids were supposed to make the block move, but here this eight-year-old was. “That’s impressive, kid. What’s your name?” </p><p>    “Y/n Beck” she smiled and shook Tony’s hand, which was a lot bigger than her own. The sound of her voice alerted Quentin and caused him to look at the entire scene. The red flags finally popped up for him.</p><p>    “Who are you here with, Y/n?”</p><p>    She pointed to Quentin with the biggest grin on her face, “My daddy.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>    “Are you even listening to me?” Quentin snapped in Y/n’s face. She blinked a couple of times to regain her vision and looked up at him, “I need you to play my daughter.”</p><p>    Y/n raised her brows, “Play? I am your daughter, remember?” </p><p>    “Don’t be a smartass,” it was a little hard to take him seriously in the ugly suit his hero persona wore. The fear of his every move almost vanished.</p><p>    “I’ll think about it,” Y/n got up from her seat and managed to walk a few steps before being grabbed by the wrist and forced to face him. She felt his hand slowly grow tighter around her to the point where struggling or pulling away would only be bad for her.</p><p>    “I didn’t give you a choice, I’m sorry. Would you rather do that,” he talked in a condescending tone towards her and his words were drawn out, “or be the test subject for one of the drones to practice firing on?” He smirked, knowing the exact words to use to force her into complying, “It would be kind of poetic, though. Being born as a test subject and dying as one. I guess that’s all you are, huh?”</p><p>    Y/n swallowed her pride before she started crying, “I’ll do it, okay?” He let go and smiled. Once again, Quentin Beck got what he wanted.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. All an Act</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Quentin works on his plan to fool Nick Fury and Peter Parker, meanwhile, Y/n gets herself a date</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Y/n admired the sights around her as she stood against a wall in Venice. She wasn’t exactly sure what the plan was, but all she had to do was act surprised and emotional when Quentin approached her. His new story was that he tried to save his family, but only she managed to escape and they both were unaware of each other. Simple. The rest of the team was scattered around the city in tourist outfits to make sure everything was in the right place.</p><p>“You don’t look Italian,” Y/n turned to face a boy that looked to be about her age and holding an expensive phone in his hand.</p><p>“Far from it actually,” she wasn’t sure if she would break the rules by saying she was from America even if their supposed other earth had the country. This boy seemed nice enough, although the obvious attempt to flex his wealth should’ve been a red flag in the first place. </p><p>“I’m free for the next few hours and you don’t seem like you’re busy, so why don’t we see Italy together?” His voice was laced in arrogance or maybe it was him trying to seem as confident as possible. </p><p>Either way, a little part of Y/n wanted to ditch the stupid plan and hang out with this mystery boy and be a regular kid for once. Doing that would be a sure-fire way to make Quentin go off on her and at this point, she didn’t know how far over the line he was going to cross.</p><p>“I-I don’t even know your name,” she tried her best to hint at a rejection.</p><p>“I’m Flash.”</p><p>“I’m actually waiting for my dad and he’d probably kill me if I hung out with a stranger,” she peered down to the ground. Her eyes lit up for a moment, an idea forming in her head, “I can sneak out tonight if that’s what you want.”</p><p>Flash’s eyes grew, he never got a girl to accept his offer when he asked them out. This was Europe, though. A new playing field with people who didn’t know who he was unlike New York. He smiled, “I can make that work. Let’s meet here,” he kept his cool even though he was screaming of joy on the inside. A date with a pretty girl on the first day of the trip would show everyone that he was truly awesome. </p><p>“I’ll see you then,” Y/n’s excitement was mixed with the crippling anxiety of going against Quentin’s orders, but what harm could a date do? She waved goodbye to Flash, who had to run back to the group of classmates he came with. </p><p>Y/n almost forgot about the literal terrorist attack that was going to happen until the ground shook and the water grew to an enormous height in front of her. She stayed back as much as she possibly could and tried to help some civilians get through the debris building up around them. </p><p>The illusion was astonishing, even knowing it was being used for horrible things. It was hard to dismiss that this technology was far ahead of its time. Water still sprayed around, dampening her hair and clothes. Everything was just so…believable. A kid in some type of mask was swinging around the monster and attempting to help Quentin. That must’ve been the spider-guy that they wanted to destroy.</p><p>Mysterio finally took the “Elemental” down and stood in front of a crowd of frightened kids, waving. Y/n ran out from her spot and caught the attention of the hero, she was sure that Quentin was there instead of the illusion at this point. The last time he stood in front of her, she was scared for her own life. “Is it really you?” his voice called out from inside the fishbowl. </p><p>She managed to form tears in her eyes as she nodded her head. They shared a hug, one that felt otherworldly to her. Almost as if everything was back to how it was. That ended too soon and he gave her a piece of paper with an address on it. He flew into the sky somehow and left her standing there. </p><p>It took a little while, but Y/n found the secret base that Quentin had told her to go to. He was the one to open the door and let her in, his little act very much still in play. “We’re just waiting for Fury to bring in Spider-Man and we’ll start briefing,” A woman, Maria Hill, explained to her as she admired all of the tech that surrounded her.</p><p>She wondered whether or not they would be able to trick all of these Shield agents, but she knew the extent Quentin and the team were willing to go for this. She turned to Quentin, “I thought that thing killed you and that’s why I jumped through the portal,” Y/n didn’t exactly memorize all of her lines, but she made do with what her brain could come up with.</p><p>“I almost did. I blacked out and the next thing I knew I wasn’t on our Earth anymore,” He used his peripheral vision to make sure Maria was intently listening to their little conversation. Anything to make them believe their lies. Hopefully, her trust would transcend to Fury and the spider kid, then the world would be in Quentin’s hands. Right where it belongs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y/n's date goes wrong and Quentin finds out about her little outing</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seeing Spider-Man unmasked was a thrill, but the fact that he was Y/n’s age brought that extra layer of guilt onto everything. There was no doubt that Peter Parker was a genius, far greater than the general population, but was he able to see through the drone work and all of the lies that he was told? Something told Y/n that he was going to be the one to save her from this entire mess or make it exponentially worse.</p><p>She kept the fact that she had powers to herself, figuring that if Fury found out he would make her fight alongside them. Although she would be seen as a hero, one mistake would send her back thousands of miles with Quentin. She sat in her pop-up room in the base, everyone else staying at nice hotels. Quentin also stayed in the base, but he was usually up late fixated on improving the illusions to notice her.</p><p>Clad in a black hoodie, Y/n snuck out of the base and made her way to the square to meet up with Flash. They never established a certain time, but she assumed that he meant once it got dark out. The trip itself wasn’t too far and all she had to do was wait.</p><p>Boy did Y/n anxiously wait until she heard the clocktower strike midnight. She didn’t understand exactly what she was feeling, maybe it was disappointment or just plain anger. Her one chance at social interaction with normal people was ripped away from her just as quickly as she got it. “Men are trash,” she sighed, reciting what she heard from Maria Hill earlier.</p><p>Y/n never expected to take the walk of shame back to the base, but here she was at the door closer to one in the morning. She gently walked through the front door and closed it as quietly as she could. If fate was on her side, she would be able to sneak back into her little room without any suspicion from Quentin.</p><p>“You decided to come back,” Unfortunately for Y/n, fate was far from her. Quentin walked out from the shadows and into her line of sight. “It really does hurt, you know. Seeing your little girl run away from home for no reason,” he clicked his tongue and shook his head at her.</p><p>“Since when did you care?” Y/n mumbled under her breath, still loud enough for him to hear. She’d never admit it, but pissing him off was her favorite activity even if there came life-threatening consequences. </p><p>“You really think that low of me? What have I ever done to you to deserve this kind of treatment?” He slowly walked towards her. Surprise was written all over her face.</p><p>“How about the time you almost choked me to death or maybe the fact that you forgot my birthday every year since I was eleven?” Y/n raised her voice slightly and continued to step backward away from him. She hoped that she wouldn’t reach a wall soon. </p><p>Quentin rolled his eyes. “Or the time I saved you from being tortured, something you take for granted. I could’ve sent your ungrateful ass right back to whatever underground lab you came from, but I protected you. Hell, I named you!” Every bone in Y/n’s body was screaming at her to not take his bullshit to heart, but the guilt was starting to form in the pit of her stomach. Without him, she would still be a string of numbers that Hydra could put into their database.</p><p>Y/n swore to herself to not get emotional in front of him and she was still strong while he continued. “Everything you have, everything you are. It’s all me.” He almost towered over her, but she was unsure whether he was using his tech or it was just her own stress exaggerating the situation. “You’re smart: me. You’re a great liar: me. But there’s only one thing that separates us: you’re weak.”</p><p>Quentin clenched his fist and swung, only to have it caught in mid-air. Y/n couldn’t hold back her tears from everything leading up to this moment. Her hand shook as she used her powers against him for once, stopping a rather painful blow. “I am not weak,” she screamed as she threw him across the room. His body slammed into the wall that shook the entire base.</p><p>Y/n took deep breaths, her mind trying to catch up with whatever she just did. She had never been able to use her powers on Quentin, but whatever emotional tether she used to have finally snapped in half. He grunted while getting up from the wall, where a Quentin-sized indent now rested. Blood ran down his forehead and arms. He pressed a few buttons on his sleeve and suddenly everything around Y/n became black. </p><p>She hesitantly backed up, knowing she wasn’t alone. She shrieked when her arms were grabbed and pulled behind her back. Y/n struggled to get out of Quentin’s grip once she felt the clicks of handcuffs going around her wrists. The illusions stopped and she found herself cuffed to a pipe in the corner of the room with Quentin standing in front of her. “I really didn’t want you to die, honey. Now I have to stage your death in Prague and you’ll be nothing but a little part of my origin story.”</p><p>He knelt down in front of her and smiled. “And maybe when this is all over, I’ll come back here and kill you myself if you make it that far.” Quentin leaned in, kissed Y/n’s forehead, and pat her head. “I love you.” He slammed the door of the base shut.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. It's a Process</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y/n tries to find a way to escape before Quentin succeeds with his plan</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“This is the biggest, most dangerous elemental that we’ll be facing: Fire. As long as we keep it away from any type of metal, it won’t be able to grow and literally destroy your planet,” Quentin had a small hologram explain what happened to his Earth for Peter. He seemed to be prepared for the fight even if he didn’t want to be involved. He knew his friends would be safe inside of the opera house, but that didn’t exclude the thousands of people that would be attending the festival. </p><p>“Once we kill it, I’ll be able to go back on my trip?” The boy questioned, receiving a nod from the other hero. Peter could finally relax for the first time in days, just one more thing to do before his life as a normal teenager could begin again. Things were coming up Peter Parker.</p><p>Y/n never knew when or how she fell asleep, but it was seemingly the next day when her eyes opened. This gave her another huge disadvantage, she could prevail even with it. She tried moving, the events of the night before flashing back to her once she was held back. There was limited time before Quentin would defeat the last elemental and basically be on to world domination, but she was still alive and no longer on his side.</p><p>In her limited line of sight, there was a table that held a few mugs, most likely containing day’s old coffee. She focused and flicked her wrist, sending the cups to the wall and shattering the frail ceramic. Drops of coffee flew into her hair and all over her clothing. Y/n then looked at the cuff around her left wrist, using her strength to pull the metal apart.</p><p>The cuff opened, only scraping a bit of her skin. “How about that?” She repeated the process with her other wrist and tried to stand up, stumbling to the side before regaining her balance. She finally could take a deep breath and reevaluate everything, staring at the front door without any lock on. “He’s either dumber than I thought or he planned this,” Y/n shrugged and twisted the knob open, revealing the moonlight peeking through clouds.</p><p>She ran down the street until she came upon a bar with enough people for her to slip in inconspicuously. Throwing her hood over her head, she pushed through people to catch a glimpse of the screen that was broadcasting a news station.</p><p>Mysterio and Night Monkey save Prague from fire monster</p><p>“Shit,” Y/n muttered, causing the heads of the people around her to turn. She assumed that this Night Monkey guy was Spider-Man or Peter. She formulated a backup plan: Find Peter and tell him the truth, then together they’ll take him down. It should be easy enough, the only difficult part is trying to win hide and seek against Quentin. Luckily for her, she was an expert.</p><p>“Y/n? You won the game, you can come out now,” Quentin was finally regretting the decision of playing hide and seek with the nine-year-old after a solid thirty minutes of searching. There wasn’t a lot of hiding space in their little apartment, but somehow she managed to conceal herself so that even a genius like Quentin was out of luck.</p><p>Y/n had no response, leaving Quentin in a confused panic. He was already having a quite stressful week at work due to everyone getting prepared for Stark’s presentation of the illusion tech at MIT and he didn’t have much time to have an amber alert in his hands. “Y/n! It’s been a half-hour, please come out,” he called out again, scanning the current room he was in. </p><p>He was met with more silence as he ventured back to the living area. An idea came to him and he held his phone up to his ear. “Oh hi, Iron Man. Really? All of the Avengers need Y/n’s help?” he smirked as he heard a slight shuffle coming from somewhere in the area, “I’m sorry, she’s not available right now–”</p><p>“Wait!” Y/n’s voice finally was heard, followed by the vent cover dropping to the wooden floor in a crash. Quentin turned around to see her carefully shuffling out of the narrow space that she was laying in, then tripping onto the floor. She flicked her wrist and made the cover fly to close the vent. She glared at Quentin once she saw that he wasn’t talking to anybody. “You tricked me! That’s not nice.”</p><p>“Sometimes it’s okay to trick people, but only if it’s for good. Got it?” He knelt down to her size and smiled. Y/n squinted, taking in the words he said.</p><p>“Yeah, I get it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Two Sides of the Same Coin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y/n finds Peter Parker and they team up despite their differences...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Finding Peter Parker was a lot less difficult than Y/n had originally imagined. After borrowing stealing a laptop from a sleeping man in the train terminal, she managed to hack into the tracking device that Quentin planted on him during their first interaction to find him staying in a hotel in Berlin. He was probably going to meet with Fury and “Mysterio” in the morning to discuss further plans, so she would catch him before he left his room.</p><p>The train ride took twelve hours in total and it was half-past eight when she stood in front of the hotel. Y/n eyed a car parked in front of the building and focused her energy on it, sending it flying straight into the lobby. The large hole in the wall and frankly, the car in the lounge, was enough to send the staff behind the front desk running towards the scene. Y/n slipped in and scanned the rooms for things that Peter might have used.</p><p>Tony Skywalker - Rm 117</p><p>Y/n didn’t know Peter that well if at all, but it was obvious that’s where he was. She took the stairs and eventually made it up to his supposed room number, knocking gently. Soft footsteps were heard from inside the room and the door opened seconds later, “Y/n?” She was surprised he remembered her name.</p><p>He was a little defensive when facing her and by that point, she knew. “You know, right?” she stepped into the room and locked the door behind her. Peter relaxed slightly, but not too much that he would be caught off guard. “I should’ve told you earlier and stopped everything, but now we actually have a chance to defeat him before everything goes to shit.”</p><p>“I thought you and your dad were close, why would you turn on him so easily?” Peter was a smart kid, Y/n should’ve expected him to be suspicious of her from the get-go. </p><p>“We used to be, but now he’s a horrible person who tried to lock me in a secret base two days ago. I’m not smart enough to work all the drone stuff, there’s no real reason why I would try and trick you now,” this was the first time in a long time that Y/n shared genuine emotion with another person that wasn’t hatred. She sat on the bed and made a pillow fly up to her chest to hold, looking up at a confused Peter. </p><p>Peter didn’t want to comment on her power out of fear of making her upset. Usually, powers come from sad backstories and he wasn’t going to make another person in his life feel bad. “How are we gonna do this?” He let a half-smile go through, the thought of even the smallest amount of help made him feel safer. For him to be able to keep his friends safe, this seemed like the only option. </p><p>“First of all, I don’t think that going to Shield is a good idea. He’s probably there already and you could be in some real danger,” she tried remembering the plan that they all were talking about when she was with the entire crew. After Venice, they would have their biggest attack in London. Quentin would be staying with everyone at Shield because he’d be the new hero. Unless he was practicing with the London illusion, he was there.</p><p>“I have to warn Fury, it’ll be much easier if we have them on our side.”</p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p>“Absolutely. How hard can it be?” Peter smiled, looking more like a golden retriever than a boy. He was far too broken to afford thinking negatively. Y/n was astonished by his optimism, especially with everything she knew he went through. “You know, we’re kind of the same,” he sat next to her on the bed.</p><p>Y/n raised a brow and turned towards him, “How so?” </p><p>“We’re both teen superheroes who lost father figures and now have to save the world because of it,” she stopped for a moment, putting the pieces together and having everything click. They really were like two sides of the same coin. Peter has to continue and protect the legacy of Tony Stark and Y/n had to stop Quentin from having a legacy in the first place.</p><p>“Guess that makes us trauma siblings,” Y/n joked, cutting the tension in the room with a shared laugh. Silence filled the room again until an idea came to her head, “We need a codeword,” Peter looked at her, “His illusions are crazy real, so we need something to let each other know if we’re real.”</p><p>“Oh, okay. Well, when I was in space I met this guy named Quill and he hadn’t been on Earth since the eighties. This guy was obsessed with Footloose, calling it the greatest movie of all time, even though it totally isn’t. So maybe we can ask what the greatest movie of all time is and only the real us would know the answer.” Y/n smiled while Peter rambled on about his little space adventure, leaving out the part of him dying for obvious reasons. She liked the way that his eyes almost lit up when he talked about Tony.</p><p>“I’ll remember that,” she giggled. Peter’s cheeked flushed with embarrassment when he realized he was talking too much. “What do you wanna do once this is all over?” The question was out of nowhere, but it was more to get their minds off of the problems in front of them.</p><p>Peter shrugged, “I had so many plans for this trip, but now I just want to go home with my friends and ask MJ to be my girlfriend,” Y/n slightly shook him playfully at the mention of his crush. She didn’t exactly know who MJ was or much about having crushes, but she knew the importance of talking about them with friends. She tried to imitate what she saw girls do in teen movies, “What about you?”</p><p>She never really thought about it. With Quentin in jail or even dead, she had nowhere to live and nobody to go to. Her face fell, “I’m not sure. I don’t really have anywhere to go,” she realized that Quentin had given her everything in life, guilt creeping its way back in. She is betraying him right now, but it was justified, right?</p><p>“You can stay with me and my Aunt May. I’m sure she’ll love a girl to talk to instead of me and Happy,” Peter was too nice to her. Y/n shook her head.</p><p>“I don’t want to be a bother. I can make it on my own, it’ll be okay,” Peter checked his watch and his eyes widened. </p><p>“I have to go to see Fury, but this conversation isn’t over. You’re not going to be alone,” he put his shoes on and headed towards the door, “I’ll call you when I’m out.” Could things really be going well for Y/n? She wondered what it would be like to live with Peter and May, what that wonderful family atmosphere would feel like. It was going to work out for her.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Moving Mountains</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y/n has to save the world from the manipulation that she was subjected to her entire life and now–she is all alone</p>
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    <p>Y/n waited for Peter to call and after three hours of nothing, she knew that this meeting with Fury was compromised by Quentin. She wondered how she couldn’t see through the obvious trap, but maybe her mind simply wasn’t working right after the events of the past days. Now her mission was a little more complicated:</p><p>1. Save Peter Parker</p><p>2. Defeat Mysterio</p><p>Did she know how to do either of those tasks? No. Was she going to try? Yes.</p><p>She hopped on the fastest train to London and thought of her plan on the way. She knew that they were planning an attack on a landmark so that it would make the large news stations across the world. It had to be something of importance and that would cause the most civilian casualties. The more that Y/n thought of what was going to happen made her feel like the apple fell from the tree and was launched into another dimension.</p><p>Once she finds out where Quentin is operating, she’ll take him on herself and save the world. Easy, right? Well, consider that she never personally got the upper hand and won a fight against the man, not really.</p><p>While the train moved as fast as it possibly could, Y/n practiced her powers. A small pen floated in mid-air and seemed to twist itself apart to reveal the inner mechanisms that also floated. The parts of the pen slowly returned to the body of the pen and the cap twisted on. </p><p>A boy leaned over the back of his seat, eyes wide at the sight of her and the pen. He knew of superheroes like the Avengers, but he never saw one in person.</p><p>She closed her fist and the plastic pen was crushed until it was no longer recognizable as a pen. Gravity took over and the ball fell to the floor. What was she going to do when he faced Quentin again? His ego was at its peak and he wouldn’t hold back. The newfound confidence in Y/n gave her hope that she would come out victorious.</p><p>She counted the minutes until the train finally stopped in London. Luckily nothing detrimental had happened yet. She found a park bench and anxiously waited for any signs of the Mysterio team or Peter. Hopefully, Peter was alive and on his way to help her. There was no way to tell. </p><p>Y/n waited patiently until the ground started to shake. London wasn’t known for getting earthquakes so that only meant one thing: Mysterio. She scanned her surroundings, her eyes stopping at the London bridge where Peter’s familiar classmates were riding on a double-decker bus. Wherever that class was, someone from the team was nearby.</p><p>She ran to the bridge, avoiding the next seismic wave that was produced. She flipped her hood up. The face of the man driving the bus was finally clear in her vision. “Not this guy,” she said under her breath. As she neared the bus, she lifted her hand and pulled the door off of its hinges. </p><p>The driver walked off of the bus and faced her. “I thought you were dead,” he fixed his hat.</p><p>Y/n took a deep breath, “Well, every plan has its hiccups. Don’t they?” With another thrust of her hand, he was sent flying back and onto the ground. She ran up and took the earpiece off of him. She dropped it on the ground and crushed it with her shoe. She knelt and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Where is he?” she projected her voice.</p><p>He smirked, “You’re already too late.”</p><p>She balled her fist and punched him across the face, “Wrong answer! Where is he?” She was louder now. A few of the students that were sitting on the bus looked over the side of the vehicle to see what was going on. The audience somehow gave her a hint of satisfaction. </p><p>He said nothing. He even started to laugh. Well, that was until he felt an invisible force grasp his throat and start tightening. His body lifted slightly and rose higher to the point where he was upright, but not low enough that his feet could touch the ground.</p><p>Various gasps from the students were heard and many glances were exchanged. Were they about to witness a murder? That would be the cherry on top of their trip. Ned and MJ finally looked at the sight to the side of them. They were as confused as the rest of their classmates. This girl was either working with Mysterio or against Mysterio, but it’s not like they could take any chances without the help of Peter, wherever he was.</p><p>“I’ll give you one more chance before you won’t be able to speak again,” she tightened the force around his neck. The area around them started to shake harder and there seemed to be explosions in the water that shot waves onto the bridge. Y/n felt the water seep through the fabric of her clothing.</p><p>Another wave struck, knocking her back enough for her to stumble backward and lose her grip. Guterman took that chance to try and escape until he felt himself stuck in the grasp once again, this time being his entire body. The chaos and noise around them seemed to get quieter. “He’s on the bridge.” He concluded that it was much better to live than to be killed by a teenager.</p><p>She released him and turned around, finally noticing the tornado or air and water that surrounded them. This was going to be a lot harder than she expected it to be, and she was all alone. Before she could make her way to Quentin, she was stopped by two of the students standing in her way. They both have their hands up as if they were going to fistfight her.</p><p>The girl flipped her hair out of her face with a slight head nod and spoke, “Who do you work for?”</p><p>Y/n raised a brow. She gathered that she wasn’t going to be able to pass peacefully and quickly without answering their questions, “I work for me.”</p><p>The boy took a half step forward, “You don’t work for Mysterio?”</p><p>She shook her head, “I used to. I’m here to stop him.”</p><p>The two had a sidebar, facing away from Y/n and whispering something. She sighed, hoping that they’d be a little quicker before the entire city was potentially destroyed. They turned back around. “We’re friends with Spider-Man and I think that he’s going to be here soon to help.”</p><p>“I’m not too sure about that,” she ran past them, pushing cars out of the way in an attempt to get to the bridge where Quentin was. She hoped that Peter’s alleged friends were right about him showing up soon. Maybe he contacted them and he was alive or they just had no idea about what happened earlier.</p><p>The thought that Peter, her only ally in the world, was dead because of Quentin just fueled her rage for the man. The next time they would face each other, she was sure that she would be the only one breathing when it ended. Maybe she’d been seen as a hero by the world.</p><p>The thing separating her and Quentin was a large tornado filled with “water”. She closed her eyes and held her hand out, grabbing hold of one of the drones that projected the threat. She brought it closer to her until she could step on it. </p><p>The wind flew through her hair as she rose higher to the bridge. There was no more room for fear and frankly, Y/n was over being afraid of what Quentin would do. After today, he would only be another horrible chapter in the story of her life. She would only remember him before Mysterio. She just needed to find the right words to finish this chapter.</p><p>The drone crashed into the glass surrounding the bridge and Y/n landed on her feet to face Quentin, who was suited up and organizing everything according to plan. “I was wondering if you’d show up to try and stop me,” he turned around, the two drones around him aimed at her now. </p><p>“What made you think I wouldn’t?” She kept her eyes trained on him and the drones, surely she’d notice if he switched to an illusion. Always watch the hands, never the mouth. </p><p>“I know you. You’re not one to jump in the face of danger,” he stepped closer and she stayed where she was. She started to turn the drones around him away from her and onto him, all while keeping eye contact with him. A few days of extreme trauma does wonders for your powers, I guess. </p><p>“Maybe you used to, but not anymore. I’m not letting you get any further, not while I’m still standing.” Y/n was running on adrenaline and rage now more than ever. With a flick of her wrist, she could end this man once and for all, then do the same with every other member of the horrible team.</p><p>Something in the back of her mind told her that she couldn’t. That would be too easy. It didn’t make up for all that she had been through. Or maybe it was the voice of reason she had. This was the man that saved her and he might still be in there. Could he be redeemed? A few decades in a maximum-security prison might be useful for him.</p><p>“It’s a shame, really. You had so much potential to be apart of the team. Now you’ll just be another nameless casualty,” he pressed a few buttons on his sleeve, “And I almost forgot, happy birthday.” With everything going on, she forgot her birthday. Killing him would be the greatest present she could give herself.</p><p>He pressed another button and a few of the drones that surrounded the bridge turned to face Y/n, firing one bullet each. With a deep breath, she held her hands out and redirected them towards him. She closed her hands into fists and crushed the attacking drones until they fell out of the sky. </p><p>She pushed him until he was against the wall and focused the energy on his neck. This would be the last of Mysterio. “Y/n!” A voice called out. Someone landed on the platform behind her. “You don’t want to kill him!”</p><p>She turned around, “Peter?” She released Quentin for a second before she realized what he did. Peter was dead and this was only another one of his illusions. She tightened her grip, turning back around to face him.</p><p>“The greatest movie of all time,” she paused at those words. Only she and Peter knew to use that saying. That only meant one thing. “I need you to help Happy and my friends. I can deal with him.”</p><p>She took a moment to think. As much as she wanted him dead, she knew that it couldn’t be by her hand. That would be killing all of the good memories she had as well. If Peter did it, it couldn’t possibly be counted as murder, only a service to the country. She nodded and released Quentin once again.</p><p>She used another drone to find out where the others were. She spotted them running into a building while a few of the drones followed them inside. She wasn’t going to let Peter’s friends die, not because of Mysterio.</p><p>She ran into the building, finding no sign of the five people. A drone was facing a closed door, which she assumed that they were all behind. She focused on the drone and ripped it in half, a small explosion following. </p><p>She pulled the door open, revealing four teenagers and one older guy. “Are you guys okay?”</p><p>They hesitated, then nodded. More drones came in behind Y/n and before she could destroy them, they all seemed to power down and fall to the ground. “Did you do that?” The older guy, who she was pretty sure was called Happy, asked.</p><p>“No, I think it’s all over.” She ran out of the building and saw no more disasters, only drones falling to the ground. She felt a wave of relief. That only meant that Peter defeated Quentin or killed him and either way, Y/n felt like she could breathe again.</p><p>Y/n was free.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Break the Chain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>a year after the london incident, y/n seems to have settled down into a normal teenage life. that is…until her past catches up with her once again</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What are we all gonna do for tomorrow?” Betty set her lunch down at the table with Ned, Peter, and MJ already starting on their food. Y/n was running late, as usual, probably lost track of time working on one of the machines that she obsessed over.</p><p>“What’s tomorrow?” Ned looked up at her with a raised brow.</p><p>“Y/n’s eighteenth birthday? She tries to hide it so well, but I figured it out last month,” She was proud of herself and the little case that she cracked in June after she took her license and checked for herself.</p><p>The three shared a worried look. It was inevitable that someone would bring up Y/n’s birthday at some point, but they never prepared an excuse for why she hated it. “Oh, maybe we can all just come over to my place and keep everything small,” Peter remembered that May and Happy were going on another date tomorrow and his apartment would be empty.</p><p>Betty scoffed, “That’s all? It’s a big milestone, she deserves a little more than that,” she thought that they all would be a little more enthusiastic about the occasion.</p><p>“Y/n really doesn’t like her birthday. It’s sort of a trigger for her,” MJ decided that it was best to be blunt, as usual. She got the whole summary of everything involving Y/n’s birthday during a sleepover well past three in the morning. Betty’s face dropped, “I’m sure she was going to tell you, she’s just super closed off when it comes to that kind of stuff.”</p><p>She sighed, moving her food around. “I get it. I just feel like I haven’t been that good ever since we started dating and I wanted to make it up to her somehow.” It took almost the entire year of school for Betty and Y/n to realize that they might’ve liked each other and they started to date once vacation began. The long wait also may have been because Y/n was getting all of her advice from Peter.</p><p>“Make it up to who?” Y/n sat down next to Betty, the ignorant smile beaming at her friends. Her hair was long and draped over her shirt, she still has yet to cut it ever since the incident of last summer. Nobody knew why or had the guts to ask about it.</p><p>Betty intertwined her fingers with Y/n’s and grinned, “Just Liz, she’s talking about visiting with her mom soon,” Y/n had only heard about Liz and the chaos that surrounded her before she moved. That was before her time in the friend group, but she did know that her dad was a villain as well.</p><p>“Yeah, too bad she kinda hates Peter,” MJ laughed.</p><p>Peter furrowed his brows, “That’s not true, I’m just not her favorite person in the world.”</p><p>~~~</p><p>May was getting ready to leave on a date with Happy when Y/n and Peter came home. “There are leftovers in the fridge or you guys can just order something,” she was fixing her makeup in the hallway mirror, “And Y/n, there’s a package for you on your bed.” She rushed out of the door with a spring in her step.</p><p>Y/n wandered back to her own room once Peter left to go on patrol. The package was quite big, but it was a simple cardboard box with a letter attached to the top. She pulled the letter off and opened it:</p><p>Mysterio doesn’t have to be dead. Y/n Beck, this is who you were meant to be.</p><p>Her heart dropped to the floor reading the text in front of her. She knew that some of the team was captured and put in prison by SHIELD, but the big names in the operation managed to flee. It was stupid of her to not realize they would keep tabs on her, especially since she knew all of their identities.</p><p>She took a deep breath and opened the box itself, shaking once she saw the contents. She first locked her door and covered her windows, then pulled out the helmet followed by the rest of Quentin’s old suit. The material looked like there was work done to it as if they tailored it to fit her. “Holy shit,” she rubbed the sleeve with the pad of her thumb.</p><p>Next thing Y/n knew, she was standing in front of her mirror dawning the suit and holding the helmet in her hands. It felt wrong, dirty even. She carefully lifted the helmet up and over her head, twisting it until it snapped in place. She pressed the button for the helmet to disappear into the suit like nanotech.</p><p>She could no longer see herself. The strong girl that grew independence and had a decent number of healthy relationships in her life all gone in an instant. Her reflection showed Quentin Beck. He should’ve been a ghost. That part of her, shouldn’t exist. Her hands shook as her fingers traced the edge of the collar where the helmet would’ve sat on.</p><p>Her mind screamed to take it off, but her body refused to take any sort of action. What if Peter saw you? Or Betty? MJ or Ned? They’d be disappointed, but most likely not expect anything more of her. This was her true self, wasn’t it? If Quentin saw her, really saw her right as she stood, he’d be proud. That’s all she wanted, to make him proud of her. To end the cycle of never being good enough.</p><p>No. She took the costume off and threw it on her bed. Tears welled up in her eyes as she reached for her phone to call someone. Peter happened to be the first contact to pop up, so she hesitantly dialed the number. His voicemail was perhaps the worst sound in the world to Y/n. She hung up.</p><p>Peering at the card again, she noticed a familiar address written on the back. Maybe Quentin was right all along, she was never going to be a normal kid or have friends. She carefully folded the suit into her backpack and left the apartment. The sky was dark and Y/n didn’t notice it was raining until she stepped on the sidewalk. “Great,” she sighed.</p><p>The walk was short and she stood in front of the door of the old apartment she used to live in. There was no going back once she knocked, but her common sense seemed to turn off as her knuckles hit the wood. Y/n reached for the doorknob and twisted it. It was unlocked. She walked a few steps into the dimly lit room and paused. This was a mistake.</p><p>“Welcome home, honey,” A very alive Quentin called from the other side of the room, “Or should I say, Mysterio?”</p>
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